The Evolutionary Theory of Inter-Personal Relationships
by UncertainMandate
Summary: The Evolution of 'Abed and Annie' in a collection of extended and deleted scenes from Seasons Two and Three. From Strangers to Friends to Best Friends to...? 'Suddenly he was struck by the feeling that he had just realised something. Something Important. Something to do with Her. He just wasn't entirely sure what it was'.
1. Beginnings

**Authors Note: **What follows was never intended to see the light of day. It was written as part of a personal crusade to try and bring me some closure on the whole 'strangers-friends-best friends- lovers?' dynamic after it had crept into one of my key friendships (No Holly, not you). It was only after it was completed that a friend read it, claimed it was good and pestered me to stick it up here. You kind people can be the judges of that. Many thanks to Woobloo for beta-ing. I hope you realise just how much your Sunday morning email saying "I really like this!" brightened my mood considerably!

All that's left is to say please read, enjoy/ hate and review. Writing FF is not something I've done for a long time. Writing romantic FF is something I've never done. So I'm relying on you kind people to tell me if it's actually any good!

Oh, and the standard disclaimer applies. I own nothing. Shame really.

* * *

**Beginnings: **

'_I brought stuff people use for capers… suction cup, credit card, chloroform._

_If the credit card doesn't work, the chloroform will._'

They quickly found themselves at Alan's office door.

This was awesome! The first of what he hoped would be many increasingly epic second year capers.

Whilst he waited for one of his partners in crime to tell him the plan he took a moment to take stock of his friends.

Firstly there was Troy.

Troy was by far the best friend he had ever had. Period. He was relieved they had straightened out their misunderstanding from the end of last year. Thankfully the giant cookie had done most of the hard work.

Then there was Annie.

When they had first met he had been pretty certain that they would not spend much time together outside of the Study Group. They just seemed too dissimilar.

He had quickly been proven wrong.

Indeed over the last few months he had found himself spending almost as much time with her as he had Troy, and as they had hung out he had begun to see a completely different side of her. She wasn't the serious straight-laced, book smart girl she had seemed at the beginning. Granted she was _some_ of those things but there was a lot more too her than that. As they had talked, chatted and messed around he had learnt more about her and as strange as it seemed every little thing he had learnt had made him want to get to know her better.

Then there was tonight.

There was something different about her tonight.

The way she was acting, the way she was carrying herself. He didn't see the 'young girl' everyone talked about. He saw an older, more mature, more confident young woman.

Tonight she looked different.

Tonight she looked…

Suddenly he was struck by the feeling that he had just realised something. Something important. Something almost life-changing. He didn't want to call it an epiphany because they didn't happen in real life (or at least not to him anyway) but something had definitely changed.

The only problem was he wasn't sure exactly what that was.

In those few short seconds he found himself getting hot under the collar, his pulse had quickened. It was almost like someone had instantly turned the heating up several notches. He looked to Troy to see if he had felt it too but his best friend seemed oblivious.

He was confused. He tried to rationalise it.

It had happened when he had been thinking about Annie. So she was the key right?

It began to happen again.

So it was something to do with her?

But what?

He wasn't sure, but he'd find out.

* * *

'_I only know one thing: nobody is this good a person and nobody can get any worse than this…_'

His phone vibrated in his pocket.

Text message.

Annie.

'I asked Rich out...'

On reading these four words his body immediately began to react in the strange ways it had recently whenever he was around her: quickening pulse, clammy hands, his stomach turning circles.

He ignored them. He was now pretty sure he knew what they meant. He'd done enough research since their escapade with the chloroform to have a good idea. He'd watched hours of TV shows and films to try and find some similarities with what had happened stood at Alan's office door. When he had found them they had been in the strangest genre …

He stopped himself. He knew his role. He was the one who looked in from the outside. He was the analytical one. He stood aloof. He didn't have feelings like that. He _shouldn't _have feelings like that.

He read on.

'… he said no. Said he liked me but that I'm too young. How does that even make sense?!'

He sighed. He was genuinely disappointed; he knew how much she liked Rich. He'd listened to her talk about him enough over the last few weeks. It had been practically all she had talked about over the winter break, severed fingers and all.

She'd just sworn him to secrecy so he hadn't told anyone what he knew.

She'd told him secrets. That's how close they had become. He would have trusted her with his if he ever had any.

Deep in his soul, however, he also felt… relieved. He knew this was a strange thing to be feeling. How could he be relieved by one of his best friend's failures? Surely that made him a bad person, and worse, a bad friend? The worse thing he thought he could be was a bad friend to her and yet it wasn't a new concern. It had been bothering him ever since she had first talked about asking the Doctor out.

He grabbed his bag, threw it over his shoulder and headed out the library.

On the steps overlooking the Quad he found Jeff staring out into the rain.

If the evening's events had underpinned one thing in Abed's mind it was that Jeff liked Annie. He was just afraid to admit it. Why else would he have gone to such great lengths to stop Rich joining the group? Despite what had happened today he was also pretty sure that she carried a flame for him too. He had seen the way that she looked at him. The 'googly eyes' as Shirley had called them.

In his own mind he knew it was only matter of time before the two of them realised their mutual attraction and got their act together and started dating. It was the romantic sub-plot of the series. Jeff was the leading man and Annie was the leading lady. After what had happened at the start of the year he knew it wouldn't be soon. But then it never was, was it? Like any good film or TV show couple they would probably wait right till the day of graduation before they finally realised how much they meant to each other.

Then he himself realised something.

He was wrong.

That moment wouldn't be graduation. That moment was right now.

_This_ was _that_ moment.

This was the scene where the leading man realises just how much he is in love with the leading lady and dashes off to win her. It all made sense. It was all set up.

It was it was even raining.

It always rained in those scenes, made it more epic.

Life imitating art.

He was pretty sure he knew how he felt, but at the same time he knew Jeff and Annie belonged together. It was an established order of events and established orders should be respected.

So he did something selfless.

'_Annie asked Rich out' _

Jeff looked at him.

As was the "done thing" he paused for dramatic effect.

'_He said no. Said she was nice, but too young'_

Time stopped.

Then his friend ran off into the rain.

He smiled. Something's just weren't worth standing in the way of.

Destiny would always take over.

And he was pretty sure that that was destined.

* * *

'_In other words it seems we've left the Western motif and are entering more of a Star Wars scenario… I know I wish it had happened sooner too.'_

The paint poured down. They had done their part. The library was Greendale's. City College's forces had been decimated. 'Operation Troy's Awesome Plan' had worked and it was now down to Jeff's 'Operation Actual Operation' to win the day.

Right now however he did not care.

Suddenly the bell rang and the paint stopped pouring down.

The illusion was shattered.

He immediately broke off the embrace.

He didn't want too but he knew it was the right thing to do. As good as it had been he knew it couldn't be kept up without the pretence and without the character. The character gave him the reason. He was Han, she was Leia.

Without that character he did not have the reason. And Han had just died.

Yet he had not wanted it to end. He had reached the conclusion that he liked her more than just as a friend. At first he had tried to ignore it but it had refused to go away. So he had bottled it up and promised himself that one day he would build a 'Dreamatorium' and the first simulation he would run would be what would happen if…

Then there had been these past two days. They had shown him, and he hoped, the world, that Annie was no longer a kid. She was an adult. And she was even more awesome than even he had given her credit for.

'Cool' he found himself saying.

He meant it.

As he turned to walk off more than a little part of him felt sad, and as the summer extended before them some regrets followed.

* * *

' '_Welcome to Greendale, you're already included'? What losers!'_

'_Welcome to Greendale...'_

'…_You're already dead'_

The paint poured down. They had done their part. The library was Greendale's. City College's forces had been decimated. 'Operation Troy's Awesome Plan' had worked and it was now down to Jeff's 'Operation Actual Operation' to win the day.

Yet these thoughts were furthest from her mind.

Suddenly the bell rang and the paint stopped.

He quickly broke off the kiss. 'Cool' he said before walking off.

She was left reeling.

What had just happened? Where had that come from? _Cool_?

In that one crazy moment she had felt closer to him than she had ever done, and in that one crazy moment as their victory had been confirmed it had just felt right.

But it was Abed.

She'd never felt this way about Abed…

Hold on.

Was it even Abed?

Was it not Han?

That's the character he had been playing and he had not broken out of it all day. She had had no feelings for her friend before this. Surely then that meant she had fallen for Han?

Yet she wasn't sure.

Throughout the day he had had her back and stood up for her. He'd put Garrett in his place, put himself in danger when she had been captured by the Black Rider, and then covered her while the paint flew.

But even at those times it had just been him in character right? That's what outlaws would do for each other and it's what Han would do for Leia.

The more she thought about it however, the more she wondered.

Recently she had begun to see a new side of him.

He was funny, he was caring, he was compassionate, he was cool.

Then out of nowhere a rogue thought popped into her head.

He was cute?

'No' she told herself. He was not cute.

She was not attracted to him. She liked Jeff, and she was pretty sure he liked her too. They'd kissed at the Tranny dance. Yeah he had blown her off afterwards but she had (eventually) understood why. There had been this constant tension between them all year. Sure the revelation that he and Britta had been sleeping together had thrown a spanner in the works, but the way she saw it this had obviously meant nothing; as soon as they had been found out they had ended it.

If anyone was 'the one' it was Jeff, and she knew that all she had to do was wait it out.

Their moment would come.


	2. Middles

**Middles:  
**

'_There are a couple of things we were hoping you would help us with'._

'_Like where does the water go in the iron?'_

'_And what's the iron for?'_

'_And what gets out Kool Aid stains'_

'_We already know the opposite colour Kool Aid doesn't work'.  
_

She climbed into bed in her new room.

It was done. She had moved in.

Casa del Tro-bed-nie. She'd talk to them about that in the morning.

It had been a long, tiring, emotional day. She knew she wouldn't see much of her security deposit, but as angry as she was with Pierce other events had side-tracked that rage.

These had mostly included – or as it had turned out, had mostly _not_ included – Jeff. She hadn't let it on to any of the group but she was really upset with him. She had really wanted his help in sorting out her move (and let's be honest if anyone was going to be up for some heavy lifting and the chance to flex his muscles it was going to be Jeff), yet he had done everything he possibly could have done including faking illness to avoid it. While he had later admitted to it and brought drinks to the flat to apologise it seemed like the only reason he had done this was because he had been "caught" by the Dean.

It was just another in a growing list of things he had done recently that had made her see his selfish side. If he had been moving she would have been there to help like a shot. It almost felt like he did not care.

Truth told she had been questioning her feelings for him recently. Things had changed. She couldn't pinpoint the exact moment, but everything between them just felt different. Maybe it had been the time they'd shared a moment after her "freak out" during the Model UN. They'd come so close to kissing and yet as he had moved closer it had just not felt right at all. It had felt… well, creepy. And he had obviously felt it too because he had quickly pulled away.

She had spent hours afterwards wondering and analysing why it had felt so weird but she could find no answers. All she knew was that as far as her feelings for Jeff were concerned she was confused.

As she turned off her bedside light she focused back on the here and now. She knew moving in with the boys had been a good idea and she knew she would have an awesome time.

There had been the Puppet Show, #AnniesMove and her Room. Other than the throw issue she couldn't have decorated it better.

It had been so cute, so caring. It showed the guys liked her.

Then she replayed a conversation she had had earlier in the evening.

'Thanks. Thanks for everything' she had said to Troy when they were alone for a moment.

'Hey, no worries', he had chirped back. 'I have to say though most of it wasn't my idea' motioning over to his best friend.

'Abed planned all this?'

Troy smiled and had begun telling her about the fun they were going to have. But she hadn't really been listening, her mind had been elsewhere.

Abed had planned everything?

* * *

'_Do you know how many sitcoms have done the 'secretly-replace-a-broken-priceless-item' thing?! Because Abed does, Abed knows everything!'_

So it hadn't been the landlord.

But she had apologised.

'_Apology accepted_', Batman said. '_I wouldn't mention it to Abed though' _he warned, '_that guy is pretty ruthless_'.

They both nodded.

Yet even as Abed, he couldn't be mad.

It was Annie, how could anyone be mad at her?

Such thoughts just didn't feel right. Not long ago he had practically taken Britta apart for stealing… well okay, borrowing-even-if-it-was-for-fully-good-intentions -that-Britta-had-,-well-,- Britta'd one of his DVDs.

But Annie…

They had become best friends. Not quite on the same level as Troy. He doubted that could happen. But they weren't far off.

The problem was he found himself wanting more.

She'd moved in. It was the best idea he had ever had.

But now the danger was real and constant. They lived together. He saw her every day.

He saw her all prim, pretty and dressed up at college.

But he also now saw her in her slacks in front of the TV.

And you know what? Whichever way it was, she looked awesome.

He suddenly began to panic.

This wasn't good.

It was beginning to influence his everyday life.

For his sake, for the groups sake, and for her sake he needed to put this back into its box, and quickly.

It wasn't fair.

It just wouldn't work.

* * *

'_Who hates Glee? Listen to how that sounds. Glee literally means Glee!'_

The weird happy musical fog was beginning to descend again. Much like the last time they had done Glee she was beginning to struggle to remember a lot of what had actually happened.

She could, however, remember her role in getting Jeff on board.

At first she had agreed to do it because he had an integral part in the show. It would not have worked without him. The Group had all also known that he wouldn't get sucked in the same way she had, or Shirley had, or Pierce had. It was going to take something… special.

She hadn't told anyone but she had also been secretly very excited by her plan. She had been questioning her feelings for him for a few weeks now. Doing this, she had hoped, would wash away all these doubts and help her realise that she had been wrong and that he was really the one.

And yet as she had been dancing and prancing she had felt…

Very little.

Less than very little.

Nothing.

She had been so excited to do it because she knew exactly how she was going to feel during, and what would happen after.

And yet she hadn't and it hadn't.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, it seemed like further proof that she really was no longer 'into him' as much as she had once been. It was a realisation that was hard to fathom. After so long… so many shared moments… so much of the 'Annie of it all… the Debate… the Tranny Dance… it seemed odd that now it had just all… vanished. Could that just happen?

She sighed, careful not to disturb the rest of the Group as they sat relaxed and laughing at the Inspector Spacetime Christmas Special Abed had put on.

It was nice to have her 'College Family' together for this special Christmas moment. Abed had worked so hard to make it happen, and it was just another example of how much he cared about all of them.

He'd asked her to move in when she was close to her lowest ebb living above Dildopolis… Then he'd worked really hard to make her feel welcome… then he'd come up with a way in which she could beat the other Annie at the Model UN… Yeah okay the whole journal thing from last year had been creepy weird. But then in its own special way had it not shown that he cared about her? He had wanted her to be happy and so he had devised a way to know when – you know – so he could avoid saying anything that would upset her…

Hold on, she told herself, examples of how he cared about _all of them_. Not just _Her_…

And yet she couldn't shake the feeling that she was finally home. After so long and so many challenges and struggles she was finally where she wanted to be. With whom she wanted to be with.

She looked across at her roommate. He must have sensed this as he tilted his head up and met her gaze and smiled.

And then it happened.

In those seconds of eye contact her heart fluttered and she could swear she had started to blush.

Hold on, that wasn't right. These were things that only happened around Jeff.

Those were Jeff feelings.

Suddenly without thinking she found herself reaching out and taking hold of his hand. To show him that she was here and that they were all here all because of him.

As her hand made contact with his and as he closed his around hers the butterflies began to dance in her stomach again.

Jeff feelings resurfaced.

Just not for Jeff.

* * *

'_And it's going to continue to be a good time! If we win Regionals, then it's straight onto Sectionals! And then a week later is Semi's, the Semi-Regionals, then Regional Semi's, and THEN National Lower Zone Semi's!'_

He was sat content; his family had come to him for Christmas. Okay it was not his real family, but he knew what he meant. Whilst it hadn't happened the way he had thought it would, it had happened nonetheless and he could not have been happier.

He took looked around at his friends as they were chilled out and seemingly enjoying the frankly awful Christmas Special. To be fair, he told himself, it was probably more to do with the side effects of being 'Glee'd' rather than them all having a lack of taste in TV. Or at least that was what he hoped.

Then his eyes met hers.

His "Annie Reactions" immediately kicked in, but he'd become good at hiding them. She smiled, he smiled back. The contact lingered probably a second longer than it should have so he flinched away, hoping she had not noticed.

He knew where he was, where he stood. He was under no illusions as to how she had got Jeff on the Glee team. It was only a matter of time before…

He was interrupted.

Suddenly he felt a hand take hold of his.

He froze.

It wasn't a new experience to him. There had been Meghan, they had shared moments like this but they had quickly died off. There had been Vollers, but despite his best efforts he had not been 'a more obvious threat to the security of the country'.

This, however, was Annie.

He turned his head to hers once again.

She smiled.

He smiled back.

At that very moment he knew one thing.

He was in trouble.

* * *

'_I'm not petty Annie, I'm mad at you because you tampered with the fabric of the group. How do you know Troy and Britta pairing up wouldn't destroy everything? I run the scenarios, I analyse this stuff from every conceivable angle'._

At first he'd been upset. He'd been angry.

She had broken the Dreamatorium.

He needed to prove to her that no one else understood him other than Troy. As close as he and she had got recently, Troy and Britta getting together would mean bad news for him. Troy and Britta together would lead to her and Jeff getting together and that in turn would lead to him being filtered out. He wouldn't be needed. He wouldn't be necessary.

He needed her to understand. So he had tried to show her. He was just sorry that he had had to go about it this way but it had needed to be done.

Their time in the Dreamatorium had been going on for over an hour when she had finally lost patience and demanded to be taken to where she wanted to go. She meant to where Abed was hiding, but he had switched the context. He had taken her back to where he thought she really wanted to go: the last day of the first year, the Tranny Dance and her and Jeff's kiss.

He knew she loved him and getting her to admit it would both aid her in her quest and give him his own closure on the feelings he had been struggling with.

Suddenly, however, she had fought back. She dismissed the notion and forced them back into the study room. He hadn't been expecting this.

He was confused. She loved Jeff, didn't she?

'_But we love Jeff'_ he said to her as herself.

He wasn't expecting her reply.

'_No we don't! We're just in love with the idea of being loved. And if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it we'll never be unloved'_

He was taken aback.

Did he hear that right?

She wasn't in love with Jeff?


	3. Endings

**Ends:**

'_Whoever did do this does owe you guys a letter. An 'A'. This Yam was about to bloom'_

Another awesome Greendale escapade. This was all of the cop shows he enjoyed all rolled into one.

He and Troy had done their bit; run down the suspects. Pierce, Magnitude, Star Burns and finally, Todd. He had loved every minute of it, especially the way he and Troy had played good cop/ bad cop to awesome effect.

Truth be told though he had preferred being the good cop. The bad cop had made him rude. It was part of the character but as soon as this was over he wanted to apologise. Anyone else he wouldn't have bothered, but he would for her.

At the same time, however, he also knew that she needed no apology. She knew him. She knew it was just part of the character he was playing. That's what was so great about her. She understood him. In fact he was beginning to wonder if she knew him better than anyone. Even, dare he say it, Troy.

He sat and watched the proceedings. Whilst he wanted a guilty verdict and his 'A' grade, his attention was not on Todd as he squirmed and argued unwavering that it hadn't been him, nor was it on Troy and thoughts of how awesome they had been as Partners. His attention was on her.

He sat and watched her question Todd and he was amazed.

She could have almost been a lawyer. Or at least his conception of what a lawyer was from TV. But wasn't that the same?

The way she was taking Todd's story apart …

'_I couldn't find one blemish… except for one pesky Yam that just wouldn't grow. That had to piss you off didn't it?'_

He really didn't understand why she wanted to work in Hospital Administration. She could be so much more. So much more... awesome.

That wasn't what amazed him the most. He knew about love and what it felt like to be attracted to someone.

Meghan, Vollers.

The same names.

And yet this seemed different.

He didn't want to say it, he couldn't say it.

But given the chance he would spend the rest of his life with this woman.

'_Did you kill are Yam to settle the score? Huh? Did stomping on its roots make you feel like a big man?'_

But he couldn't, could he? He was Abed. He was the one who looked in from the outside, he wasn't the leading man, but she was the leading lady.

Jeff was the leading man.

And the Leading man and the leading lady? They were destined to get together. Despite whatever she had said in the Dreamatorium he knew that she and Jeff would eventually find their way. They were the Ross and Rachel, the Carter and O'Neill, the Josh and Donna, the JD and Elliot.

He was Joey, He was Teal'c, He was Ed and Larry, He was Doug.

They didn't get the leading girl.

'_Listen to me Todd, I know how scary a failing grade can be, but this one dead yam won't tarnish your record…'_

Despite this he had found himself beginning hope, hope for just one more chance. Even if it was just another Don Draper or Han Solo moment all he wanted was a chance to get close to her again.

And then it happened. The illusion ended. Todd confessed. They had won. They had done it. _She_ had done it. Of course she had done it. Had he expected any different?

He smiled. She really was something else wasn't she?

* * *

'_Ok look, I know things seem helpless because he's all the way to the castle with the crystal and we're starting over. But here's the thing, we're better at this game now. We've died and been reborn and that makes us heroes!'_

She had been sat in her booth playing the game, locked in and determined to win for Pierce what he… well, what he probably _didn't_ actually deserve. What she knew about Gilbert up to this point, however, made her sure that Pierce merited it more than him.

Between the seven of them they had slowly been getting used to the game, getting better at it.

Then a voice had come over her headset. It was a voice that while somewhat robotic had grown to become a source of reassurance and comfort to her. It was his.

Yet when he had finished her blood had run cold.

Earlier he had announced that he was going to stay behind in the village and help Hilda rebuild her life after the "freak" fire that had killed her family. It was just another sign of how caring and compassionate he was.

Now, however, they were married. Now they had children together.

Whilst it had been Troy that had spoken of it out loud, she had quickly found herself becoming so… so… not jealous… but… jealous.

It had been stupid, it had made no sense. Jealousy of a computer animation?

Yet she had still struggled to fight it.

As she sat there she had quickly begun to see the parallels with that first day back in Anthropology. What had happened between Jeff and Britta had slowly shredded her insides. That was jealousy pure and simple, and yet this felt worse.

She had kept telling herself that this was just a game, that the 'She' in question was only a computer animation. She wasn't real. Hell 'She' was as real as 'Her Father' that she had murdered earlier. It didn't mean she herself was going to jail did it?

Such thoughts, however, had offered little relief.

It had been a strange year. Just as she had finished accepting that she and Jeff had no future she had been hit by the realisation of what had been staring her in the face all along.

Abed.

He was kind, he was caring, he was cool, he was cute.

She couldn't explain it, nor could she point to a specific event. The realisation had crept up on her. What she had once felt for Jeff, she now felt for Abed. Only stronger. What she had thought was 'love' with Jeff was nowhere near what she now felt for her roommate.

The problem was that whilst she had been sure that Jeff had liked her too she wasn't sure about Abed. There had been instances where she had questioned, for example she could swear she had seen just a brief flicker of a reaction on his face after she had told him that she was not in love with Jeff in the Dreamatorium…

Then there had been a comment Pierce had made, what two years ago?

'_I call the other women 'Flat Butt' and 'The One Abed wants to nail'_

She hadn't paid it any attention at the time, writing it off as just Pierce being, well, Pierce. But now she thought about it…

Guys talked to each other about that kind of stuff didn't they? Was there really a fifty per-cent chance that she was 'the one Abed wants to nail'?

Of course there were problems. Firstly Pierce's comment was YEARS ago. A lot had changed since then. Added to this was Abed really the kind to get involved in such chat? She couldn't imagine it. But then there was Troy. They seemed to tell each other EVERYTHING. Maybe he'd told Troy and Troy had told Pierce… it wouldn't have been the first time Troy had spilled to Pierce…

It had been at that point she had reached a conclusion. Whether he did, or he didn't, she needed to tell him how she felt. She had learnt from Jeff that stalling and avoiding the issue wasn't the way forward. If she wanted something she needed to reach out and take it or she risked losing it.

She did not want things to go back to normal. She wanted to start a new chapter in her life. A new chapter involving her, and involving Abed.

It was at this moment she finally admitted it to herself.

She was in love with Abed.

Admitting it was the first step right?

The next step?

* * *

'Hey Britta'

'Hey!'

They chatted on for a bit. Probably about Cats, or Guatemala, she couldn't really remember, her mind was elsewhere.

Eventually she decided it needed to be done.

'Britta?' She interrupted.

'Yeah?'

She took a deep breath.

'I think I'm in love with Abed'

Britta smiled. 'Wow. That was… random and, well, honestly? Not at all a surprise. It's been pretty obvious for a while now'.

She bristled.

Britta smiled again. 'The guys they have a wager….'. She stopped herself. 'So what are you going to do about it?' she asked.

She told her.

Britta smiled some more.

Mostly because it was finally going to happen, but also because she was about to come into a decent amount of money and she had vet bills to pay.

* * *

There was a knock at the door.

He looked at his watch, Britta was early but that wasn't a problem. He paused the TV and paddled over to the door. But it wasn't Britta.

'Annie?' he asked somewhat in surprise.

'Hey'. She said.

'Have you, er, lost your key?

Looking back she could never explain it. Why had she knocked?! Nervousness? Fear? Every time she thought about it from that day on she cursed her stupidity. But then the others had found out and it had become a 'Cute Annie Story'.

But as for today it wasn't going to deter her. Not in the slightest.

She brushed his question aside and took a deep breathe.

'Abed?'

'Yeah?'

'I think… No. I know.'

'Annie?' he asked.

'I'm in love you'.

Time slowed to treacle

Suddenly she saw him begin to smile.

He tilted his head.

'Annie', he said, 'I love you too'.

When asked later what had happened next his description had been very droll. Something about smiles, hugs, tears (Annie's), long conversations to all hours in the morning, plans for the future.

In reality, however – and he would never admit this to anyone – he saw fireworks. He saw stars. And he saw the girl he loved stood before him.

'Annie… I love you too'. Their words echoed.

For both of them the world as they knew it was about to change for the better.


End file.
